Integrated modeling and simulation with in-line motion captures for automated ergonomic analysis in product lifecycle management

Abstract

Ergonomics analysis helps to improve workers’ safety and the working environment, as well as aiding in the design of tools and equipment for effective production. It plays an important role in time and cost savings, and moreover it improves the quality in product development and production. Furthermore, ergonomics analysis is part of an epidemiological study or safety engineering for the prevention of industrial or musculoskeletal disease. In order to conduct modeling and simulation for ergonomic analysis, creating digital environments and digital human models is essential. However, to create a digital environment, a massive and time-consuming workload is needed for gathering information or the computer-aided design data of equipment, tools, products, and so on, and the location or direction as to where these objects are positioned. Also, when creating a digital human model, it requires expert knowledge, effort and massive time for creating digital humans, postures, detailed moving paths, and time consumed for each posture, which also leads to a massive workload. In this article, an innovative framework, which proposes Product, Process, Plant, and Resource management through the product lifecycle management system for the automation of creating a digital environment, as well as the application of in-line motion capturing technology for automated creations of digital human model are designed; furthermore, the base system for the proposed framework is developed and presented.